1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an individual mask equipped with a supply system of air, cooled or heated, this air being prepared by a thermoelectric device.
The purpose of the invention is the comfort and, in certain cases, the protection against environmentally bad conditions of drivers, operators, mechanics, etc. placed in vehicles or aeronefs, as for example:
Drivers of civil works machines, bulldozers, graders, circulating in very hot or very cold areas, with some dusty or polluted conditions coming from the civil works, as blasting of rocks or from the local climate, as sand storms.
Operators inside control cabins of cranes in factories like foundries, steelworks plants, storage of chemical products.
Drivers and operators inside vehicles or aeronefs of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, when the environment is spoiled by the climatic conditions, plus some specific pollutants aggression coming from the activity of the arms, guns, rockets, and all types of explosion gases, including some gases nuclearly contaminated.
Firemen in or out of their trucks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To protect the crewmen of these machines, usually, it is proposed and it is realized to make their room as tight as possible, and to supply to this room a sufficient delivery of hot or cold air to assure at least minimal conditions of comfort and safety.
This method requires the treatment of large quantities of air compared with the needs of the men which are often a small fraction of the required needs for the entire room. This type of air conditioning unit is more often powerful, from 2 to 4 HP, and the power requirements, as fuel or electricity requirements, plus the weight and size of units are an obstacle against the use of these systems in many cases.
It has also been proposed to place the crewmen in a complete protective garment in which the men are protected from feet to head as shown in Frantti U.S. Pat. No. 3,085,405. This process reduces the requirements of the air conditioning equipment and, especially, static processes may be used, such as thermoelectric systems, to supply cool air to the garment.
But the crewmen seem embarrassed to wear a garment, this garment cannot be removed easily when it is not useful due to a change to better environmental conditions or a change in the mission of the crewmen.
The garment is also exposed to leakage and the man may be endangered by losses of air by this leakage.